Valarie Carey, sister of Miriam Carey the Stamford woman shot and killed following a wild chase from the White House to the Capitol last week with her baby daughter in the backseat of her car, and her fiance Schmoll Bey asked a Stamford judge for custody of the child on Friday October 11, 2013.
Photo: Dru Nadler

Valarie Carey, sister of Miriam Carey the Stamford woman shot and...

Valarie Carey, sister of Miriam Carey the Stamford woman shot and killed following a wild chase from the White House to the Capitol last week with her baby daughter in the backseat of her car, and her fiance Schmoll Bey asked a Stamford judge for custody of the child on Friday October 11, 2013.
Photo: Dru Nadler

Valarie Carey, sister of Miriam Carey the Stamford woman shot and...

A federal agent removes evidence from the apartment complex where Miriam Carey is believed to have lived in Stamford, Conn., Friday, Oct. 4, 2013. Law-enforcement authorities have identified Carey, 34, as the woman who, with a 1-year-old child in her car, led Secret Service and police on a harrowing chase in Washington from the White House past the Capitol Thursday, attempting to penetrate the security barriers at both national landmarks before she was shot to death, police said. The child survived. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Photo: John Minchillo, Associated Press

STAMFORD -- An application by Miriam Carey's family to take custody of the baby girl who was in the car when her mother was shot and killed last week during a wild chase in Washington, D.C., was denied Friday by a Stamford judge.

On Thursday, Valarie Carey, sister of 34-year-old Miriam Carey, came to Stamford and filed an ex parte application to obtain temporary custody of 14-month-old Erica Francis, currently in the custody of her father, Eric Francis, who is estranged from Carey's family.

Carey's family hoped to get custody of Erica before her mother's funeral on Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y. A disappointed Valarie Carey said the motion was denied Friday by Judge Jane Emmons.

"I believe my niece has the right to be in the presence of her mother for one last time to say goodbye. She needs to be in the presence of people who know her and love her, like her grandmother and her aunts. We need to have her there on Tuesday," said Carey, who served with the New York City Police Department for 12 years.

"This is not acceptable," she said. "As a woman, to deny the child to go to the grandmother? It is questionable."

At first, Carey said she wanted to file an injunction on Emmons' decision, but near the end of the afternoon, she said she would come back on Oct. 24 for a custody hearing on the matter.

Carey charges that Francis will not bring the baby to visit the Carey family in Brooklyn, and the family doesn't know where Erica is living, according to court records.

Miriam Carey, who lived in Stamford's Woodside Green condominium complex, was shot and killed Oct. 3 when she reportedly tried to breach a White House barrier. The incident has prompted a review of whether the use of force was justified by Washington, D.C., law enforcement officials.

Carey's mother, Idella Carey, said her daughter, a dental hygienist, was suffering from post-partum depression after Erica was born. Carey was later hospitalized following an incident in which Stamford police were called about Erica's welfare in December.

During an interview at the courthouse Friday, Carey said she had no idea why her sister went to Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3. She also was uncertain if the trip had anything to do with the depression she fought.

"In my heart of hearts, I cannot say if that played a role in what happened in D.C.," Carey said. "I don't know what my sister was doing at the time. I don't know where my sister was going. I don't know. No one will know because she is not here to defend herself."

Aside from what Carey was doing at the courthouse Friday, her biggest concern is what happened to her sister and why.

"The question is, why is she dead? Why did the officer shoot? Why did they feel the need to shoot several times and continue shooting?" she said.

Carey said she believed her unarmed sister was murdered in Washington, D.C.

"It is definitely murder. She was executed," Carey said.

Carey said her other sister, Amy, talked to Francis and he refused to bring Erica to Brooklyn on Tuesday for her mother's funeral.

A statement by Valarie Carey attached to the custody application said, "The alleged father has not been present in Erica Francis' life physically for the past two months nor has he provided financial support. The respondent Eric Francis has not disclosed his home address to the Carey family ... The respondent is interfering with the established relationship Erica Francis has with her maternal grandmother and aunts in Brooklyn, New York."

The statement also said the 55-year-old Francis, who is from Jamaica, goes by more than one name as well as several Social Security numbers.

"The Carey family fears he is likely to abscond with Erica Francis," the statement said.

Attorney Darnell Crosland, who is working with Valarie Carey to gain custody of her niece, said the family is trying to stop its suffering.

"The best way to do that is to make sure her minor child is in a secure and loving home, and just as important a home that the child is accustomed to," Crosland said.

Crosland said if the judge grants the application, the child would be taken to Brooklyn to attend her mother's funeral on Tuesday and live with her aunts and grandmother.

"There are numerous other reasons why custody should remain with the maternal family, but we are not opposed to arguing those reasons in court at a later date. For now, we feel the court's immediate intervention is necessary to protect Erica's welfare," Crosland said.

Valarie Carey said her sister seemed fine before her death last week.

"My sister appeared happy in her last interactions with the family and the last conversation she had with my mom on (Oct. 2). And I was looking forward to seeing Erica on the weekend because we see her every weekend," she said.

When asked if the family planned to file a wrongful death suit against the officers involved, Carey said she did not know yet.

"Right now, it is time to bury my sister and we need to as a family. We need closure and know what happened in D.C and why these things did happen," she said.